Apparatus for heating oils



Aug. 16, 1927.

F. E. WELLMAN APPARATUS FOR "HEATING OILS Filed June s. 1922 4 sheets-sheet 1 4 sheds-sheet 2 Filed June s. 1922 gfwentoz Aug. 16, l1927.-

F; E. wELLMAN APPARATUS FOR HEATINGmLs Filed June s. 1922 4 sheds-sheet 3 I r1,63 22 Aug. 1s, 1927. M WELLMAN 9s APPARATUS FOR HEATING OILS Filed June 5. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. '16, 1927.

UNITED- STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

ranrxn. wnLuuiN, .or musas om, maas, .assioma ro, mus om Gaso- Lnrn conrm, or maas `crier, ,maas a concurren or maas APPARATUS IOR HEA'UING OILS.

My invention relates to cracking processes and stills for transforming heavy hydrocarbons having a high boiling point into other hydrocarbons having a lower boiling int. It has for its object the improvement o such processes and stills. in the following particulars: to produce a greater heating surface rel- 'ativel to the content ofthe still, and to prevent oaming with such an arrangement; to provide for the vuse with a pipe still of the system of heating disclosed in my prior copending applications, Serial No. 523,062, filed December 17,v 1921, Patent No. 1,576,- 563 and Serial No. 532,873, filed January '30, 1922, patent No. 1,581,896; to provide for a circular arrangement of vertical still pipes, in order to gain the full advantages of the aforesaid systemof heating; to provide ,for equalizing levels and for uniformly feedin a circular series of still pipes; to provi e for control of the air supply for such a pipe still, and in connection therewith to provide suitable means for supporting a rotating heating means.

urther objects and advantages of my invention will sufficiently appear from the detail description hereinafter.

I attain my objects b forming a circular series of still pipes, wliich may be in one, two, or more rings asl desired. These ma be individual tubes connected throng headers or tanks at the top and bottom, or they may be connected alternately at yto and bottom so as to form a series coil. ithin` the ring of pipes is built a liner of refractory material, such as fire brick, and outside the ring of pipes is a larger wall or enclosure of similar material. Theseare connected at the anove the stil and has radial connectionsl to all thestill pipes, and to the expansion tanks as well. Heatin is effected by means of the rotating burner escribed in my priorapplications above referred to, and a hermetic seal is provided for air entering the furnace,

for preventing foaming,

section on the -line lar ed scale of the burner, its supporting she f and associated parts.

Fig. 5 and V6 show modifications of the burner arrangements.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates al series of vertical still pipes, which may be for example 7 inches 1n diameter and approximately 40 feet in length. These are arranged in a circle, being supported preferabl at their upper ends. 3 is an inner wall or iner of refractory material, in the form of a frustrum of an inverted cone. 4 is the outer furnace wall of the same material in the form of the frustriim of an upright cone. It 'is to be observed that in cross section at an point these inner and outer walls are circu ar as shown in Fig. 3.

At their lower ends, the still ipes 1 are all secured to a ring manifold 5, rom which draw-off pipes 6 are led out through the furnacev walls 4. At theiry upper ends the still pipes are closed lby flan d and bolted cap plates 7, or other suitab e means, these being removable for cleaning purposes, but in practice I may use a hea er or man1fold for all these pi similar to the lower ring 5 in Figs. 1 an both of the manifoldsv at top and bottom may be made large enough to permit the entrance of workmen for cleaningv out the pipes. f

Inasmuch as the still pipes have very considerable content by reason of their len h, but a very small surface for the 'el ing up of vapor, it is necessary tov rovi e means wliic I do in the form of tanks 8- 88 shown in Figs. 1 and 2. These tanks are connected to the still pipes by radial tubes 9-10, the former 3, and in such case, one or'`v lying ,below the normal liquid level and the latter lyingabove it. In addition to'these vconnectlons, the tanks, 8, 8, etc., are conjoints 12 with the central equalizing feeding tank 13. Below the li uid level this tank is connected to all of t e still pips by radial tubes 14. A gauge glass or ot r convenient formof indicator 15 is provided to show the liquid level in the tank 13.

The usual vapor line and make-up or feed pipe connections are shown at 16 and 17, connected to the tank 13, from which the feed of. fresh material is equalized to all of the still pipes and the liquid level maintained the same throughout the system.

vThe fuel feed and burner mechanism is marked 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. The pipe lengths 18, 19 and 21 are double, that is to say an oil pipe is secured concentrically within the steam pipe, so that at the burner 22 oil and steam are both supplied as de'- termined by suitable valves connected to the supply pipe 18. Centralized with respect to the still is a swivel joint 23, the outer section of which is connected to the pipe 19 andv is rotated by means of a worm I 25' 24 driven by shaft L5 carrying a sprocketv 'wheell 26. vThe pipe section 21 drops through an annular slot in the guard plate 26, closing the annular opening 2Q* in the top of the furnace. The lower end of the pipe 21 (see Fig. 4), passes through an opening in'the rotating shelf -27 where a bend is produced to form a trailing burner arm, 28 (see Figs. 3 and 4), which carries a burner composed of a pair of'feeder arms 33 and 35, one carrying oil and the other steam, and a burner head 34.V The arms 33 and 35 are connected to the inner and the outer pipes, respectively, of the 'concentric pair 18-19-21.

r The burner arm 28 lies beneath the shelf 27, its end passing up through an opening therein and carrying a. T-ttin 32 to which the arms 33 and 35 .are secure The shelf 27 is annular, pierced vwith air openings 27 ad'cent the burner, and has depending annu r anges 29 each dipping into liquid.

31 in an annular trough 30, constituting the top member of an hermetically sealed enclosure 39, which communicates with the 2 outer air through pipe 40, (see Figs. 1 and 3), the volume of air supply being regulated by means such as the damper 41, conl trolled as by an operating rod 42 from the outside. The chamber 39 1s of such size and shape that workmen may enter it through a suitable manhole for adjustment of the burners. When the still is in operation the air chamber and surrounding parts are cool,

even the brick work in walls 3.aud- 4 remainis -rotated at a regular rateo speed by top and bottom gears. At. the to worm 24 is carried on shaft 25, fitted wit sprocket 26. be desired number of burners, fed in 3 and I Losanna At'the bottom the 36 meshes with vcrown teeth around e outer ed of shelf 27, and is driven through the 1aft 37 by motor 50, which valso drives the upper shaft 25 .throu h sprocket chain 38' or equivalent means. y suitabl relatin the worm sprockets, gears an motor, t e entire system is rotated at a uniform s and with` out racking or strain. The s elf 27 may of course be given additional bearing support in or out of the troughs, 30, and the down pipe 21 may be duplicated at 180 around the shelf to give a hanging frame if desired. The specific arrangement of the burner system is immaterial so long as it performs the functions described. The burner throws its flame across the inner sides of the still pipes 1, around which it is rotated at such a rate of speed that an given spot in any still pipe is within the irectly heated area during each cycle of rotation, for a period less thanthat in which destructive heating would occur. *Since the air su pl to the annular combustion space is on my way of openings 27, there is no a 'xture of atmospheric air with the products of combustion,

. pipes, whereby the iame may be 'applied to the lower ends of the pipesor to the header 5 connecting them. It is to be understood that the header maybe omitted and the flame may be trailed over the bottoms of the pipes themselves if desired, and for cracking some material this would have advantages. In the claims I shall specifythat the flame is applied at the bottom of the still, but this is to include both the arrangements shown in Figures 1 and 5.

In Figure 6 I have shown in diagram a modified arrangement of the heating system in which a plurality of burners are separatel fed and separately controlled, and for simp icit these fe and driven from lthe bottom instead of the top of the still, also, as in Fi ure 5, the iame plays around the lower ends erstere duplicated, being fed through con centric oil and steam pipes separately controlled by se arate valves, so that either one or both may plication of burners renders possible `a. correspondin multiplication of heating iods and it 1s to be understood that there may in the drawing I have shown of the still pipes 1. In this figure, the burnused as desired. This multi- 2 continuousl any suitable or well understood manner, movable together as shown herein, or separately as required by special conditions. The mechanical detail of such arrangements will be obvious to those skilled in the art after reading this description.

I. claim:

1. A still for the treatment of hydrocarbon oils comprising a plurality of vertical pipes arranged in a. circle, concentric annular walls within and without said circle, and means for applying heat intermittently and individually to the still pipes and their contents around the circle m periodic rotation.

2. A still' for the treatment of hydrocarbon oils comprising a plurality of vertical I pipes arranged in a clrcle, concentric annular furnace walls within and without said circle,`and a source of heat arranged to be moved lin relation to the assembla e o said pipes and furnace walls to apply ieat intermittently and individually to each of said' pipes in periodic rotation at points above the lower ends thereof.

3. A still for the treatment ofl hydrocarbon oils comprising a plurality of vertical pipes arran ed in a circle, concentric annular furnace w ls within and without said circle, a source of heat arranged to be moved around between the pi and the inner still wall and consisting 0in; fuel feed pipe at the top of the furnace, a drop member connected therewith and' passing down between the pipes and the inner wall, a traveling burner arm near the lower ends of the pipes connected with the drop member to receive fuel supply therefrom, an annular hermetically sealed air chamber near the bottom of the furnace extending around between the pipes and the inner wall and having a. movable part arranged to move with the burner with air ducts adjacent to the burner for 1upplying air thereto from said' air cham- 4. The still as claimed in claim 3 with means for regulating the supply of air to said air chamber.

5. A still for the treatment of hydrocarbon oils comprising a plurality of vertical pipes arranged in a circle, concentric annular furnace walls within and without said circle inclined toward the upper ends of the pipes to form an upwardly tapered annular chamber, and a heating burner near the bottom of the chamber.

6. A still for the treatment of hydrocarbon oils comprising a plurality of vertical pipes, concentric annular furnace walls within and without said circle. and a source of heat arranged to be moved around between the pipes and the inner still wall. said source of heat consistng of a fuel feed pipe at' the top of the furnace, a drop member connected therewith and passing down between the pipes and the inner wall, a traveling burner arm near the lower ends of the pipes connected with the drop member to receive fuel supply therefrom and an annular hermetically sealed air chamber below the burner arm extending around between the pipes and the inner wall and having a'movable part arran ed to move with the burner with air ducts a jacent the burner for supplying air thereto from the air chamber, and means for uniformly rotating said drop member and said movable air chamber art.

p 7. A still for the treatment of hydrocarbon oils comprising a plurality of vertical pipes arranged in a circle, bconcentric annular furnace walls within and without said circle, combustion means for heating said pipes near the lower ends thereof, means for taking olf the roducts of combustion near the upper en s thereof, and a plurality of separate expansion tanks each connccted to the upper ends of a separate group of the still pipes and' situated at such points as to carry the same liquid level with greater surface thereof than. is ssible in the pipes and therebyv prevent oaming. w

8. The still claimed in claim 7 with thev addition of a central equalizing and feed tank connected to each of the still ipes through a separate connection in the ower part thereof, and to veach of the expansion tanks by separate connections in the upper plart thereof. v

9. he still claimed in claim 7 with the addition of a central equalizing and feed tank connected in th lower part thereof to each of the still pipes and by separate connections in the up er part of same to each of the expansion tan s, connections between the still pipes and the expansion tanks in the lower part thereof and other separate connections therebetween in the upper `part of the same, whereby the entire system is equalized for both liquid and vapors.

10. A stillhavin subdivided oil containing means arrange to present an annular heating area having vertical walls, and acombustion heater adapted to passover the said area and trail its flame in substantially a horizontal plane against the vertical walls of the heatin area. 4

11. The sti l claimed in claim 10, in which the containing means is composed of a plurality of pipes arranged ,in a circle.

I12. A heating system for pipe stills, havin stationary liquid containing pipes and a urner-ada ted to pass a flame intermittently and in ividually over the heating surfaces of the pipes in 'periodic rotation.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature. Y

.FRANK E. WELLMAN.- 

